Ryder Cup memories inspire Rose to victory

AFP, BELEK, Turkey

Sat, Oct 13, 2012 - Page 19

Justin Rose drew on memories of last month’s Ryder Cup singles defeat of Phil Mickelson to also defeat fellow England golfer Lee Westwood by a stroke and capture the World Golf Final yesterday.

The World No. 5 ranked Rose shot a round of a five-under par 66 to defeat Westwood who birdied the last hole in a score of 67 on the Sultan Course at the Antalya Club.

Rose was never behind in his match starting with a first hole birdie and then to be three under through nine holes and one ahead of Westwood.

Rose then went two ahead with a birdie at 10 and while Westwood then birdied the 16th to get back to one behind Rose, the World No. 5 holed a 20-foot putt for birdie at the 17th, and a near similar length putt he holed at the same hole in the singles at Medinah to turn around his match against US rival Mickelson.

A day earlier, Rose had chipped in at the 17th to deny Tiger Woods a place in the final of the US$ 5.2million event

“The 17th green has been really good to me this week as I holed my second shot there yesterday and, of course, the 17th at Medinah turned around my match against Phil,” Rose said. “But you have to be pleased to go through this whole week after winning all my five matches. So to not get beaten at all in the group stage and then to win the two finals is a great feeling and it’s been a great week.”

“My golf is just so consistent at the moment and the main thing is that I just don’t have any skeletons in the closet, and I don’t have that loose shot that is plaguing me all the time,” Rose added. “So all aspects of my game can pull through for me at different times and I feel as though I’ve got something every day to lean on.”

The prize check is Rose’s highest-ever in his 14-year pro career and US$560,000 more than his prize in capturing last year’s BMW Championship.

Westwood, who was 22-under for his five rounds and one less than Rose, earned a check for $1m for his efforts over the three days.

“We both played well with just the slight difference on the greens,” Westwood said. “Justin rolled some 20 footers, another crucial one at 17, while the longest putt I made was eight or nine feet on 16. So I left a lot of chances out there, but that is the way it goes.”

“I knew before today the he was rolling it well on the greens. He showed that against Phil Mickelson at the Ryder Cup,” Westwood said.

“I played him earlier in the week and he shot 66 so I figured I would need somewhere around there. I hit a good shot into the last and put some pressure on, so not too bad,” he added.